Luminescence properties of MgO produced by solution combustion synthesis and doped with lanthanides and Li

The objective of this study is to explore the possibility of synthesizing MgO with controlled luminescence and thermoluminescence (TL) properties using the Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) method by doping with different lanthanides (Ln) and co-doping with lithium (Li). The goal is to further establish the SCS technique as a new route for developing new TL and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimetric materials. Undoped and doped MgO samples were synthesized by SCS and characterized using radioluminescence (RL) and TL. The data obtained showed that Li doping can increase considerably the intensity of the RL and TL from Ln-doped MgO produced by SCS. In MgO:Ln,Li the introduced lanthanides are responsible for the emission during both RL and TL processes, although other emission bands are also observed (e.g., ∼700-750 nm). The incorporation of lanthanides also introduces trapping centers as indicated by different peaks in the TL curves. The results in this study show that the SCS technique can potentially produce materials with TL intensity comparable to commercial dosimetric materials, although further optimizations are still required.